sayingprayers

Hi everyone! I am feeling so lost due to all our meetings being closed indefinitely. Feels lonely and need support I wish I had done more personal connecting with people while I was in the rooms (or gotten numbers). Thank you for letting me post.

aasharon90

There is a lot of support and fellowship right here
in SR so that no one ever has to feel or be alone.

Many of us stay connected to SR all day long, sharing
with others about recovery, about how their days are
going, what's new happening in their lives, things that
they enjoy doing or looking for helpful suggestions to
guide them in all they do.

There are different threads or post on just about
everything and is open to all who want to share
on them.

I normally share in the gardening thread, bikers
in recovery and helping those along the way any
way I can.

Welcome sayingprayers to another recovery life
line that many use on a continuous bases to stay
connected with others traveling the road of recovery
in fellowship and friendship.

sayingprayers

Thank you very much.

sayingprayers

I may have posted in the wrong section

snitch

Are you aware of online AA meetings via Zoom?

48heath

Lots of online meetings in the U.K. on AA Online UK - Online AA Meetings

least

I know it's not the same as face to face meetings, but you've got us at your back. Come here any time you need support.

sugarbear1

got one number? call them. talk. ask for more numbers. like a virus, it can spread....

mikoss

I do my online AA meetings via Zoom. We switched from our regular meetings in person to doing the Zoom meetings last week and it is wonderful and it is free unless you upgrade to other business platforms with more options.

You can download the Zoom software to your laptop or phone. Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, etc. or if your regular meetings already have a meeting in place with Zoom they should have a link you can just click on and the software will download automatically and you should be in a regular scheduled meeting within a minute or minutes depending on the connection and download speeds.

And with Zoom you can also chat and mute your microphone and your camera if you don't want to be seen or heard during the meeting. You can also raise your hand to share in the meeting and a lot of functions it has like a regular AA meeting. I am so grateful and thankful for Zoom to be able to still have our AA meetings online with the Zoom platform. A lot of people use their phones to enter the meeting but I find it best with a laptop if you have one.

Dee74

very glad to have you join us saying prayers

D

snitch

I am loving Zoom! being a single mum I am usually unable to make evening meetings but jumped onto one last night and was even able to change my bed sheets whilst listening to others share. It's great!

mikoss

Yes it is great right? A lot of people in my meeting were already familiar and used to using Zoom for their video conferencing for business but I just started using it for the AA meetings we have online and I love it.

One of the ladies from our regular AA meetings said in a recent meeting how she loves that she doesn't have to think about what to wear before the meeting. She said that when we had our regular meetings in person she would always have to think about and prepare what to wear like going out on a first date or something. But now she can relax and not worry about what to wear and things like that.

Also a lot of people use lights when on camera during the meeting. Lighting or I should say plenty of light will help you look better on camera. So use plenty of light on your face but not too much light and it will make anybody look better on camera during the online meeting.

I even heard with a lot of people using Zoom some people have done some pretty embarrassing things. There was a lady on Zoom and during whatever meeting she was on she went to use the bathroom. I guess she didn't mute her microphone or turn off the video camera and people in the meeting saw her using the toilet and heard everything too. Even her bathroom was visible in the background and she left the door open to her bathroom and people in the meeting actually saw her on the toilet with video and sound and everything. She just didn't know and how embarrassing she must have been after the fact.

And then people that don't even get dressed properly and some people even sitting naked during meetings and just being ridiculous and being a little too comfortable. I know people want to be comfortable during the meeting and wear comfortable clothes from the comfort of their own home but at least put on a shirt for god's sake and get dressed or wear something at least appropriate but some people don't think I guess or don't care.

They even said somewhere that there were even some guys on Zoom with posters of naked women in the background other people in the meeting can see so they were just telling people to just make sure there is nothing provocative or offending in the background and just think about what shows up in the background and clean it up if need be

Anyways, just people not thinking beforehand. I always make sure I dress nice during the meeting and have the right lighting on me and the right camera angle where I am not too far away and not to up close. Just little things to make sure it is a pleasant meeting. I will admit I have drank alcohol during a meeting but I made sure the bottle was out of sight from the camera and when I drank it was from a regular glass so it looks like water and it was vodka mixed with water. Not recommending drinking during the meeting but what I mean is no drinking from a bottle or shot glass on camera or drinking a beer on camera or anything like that and take into consideration others during the meeting and try to make it as inconspicuous as possible and take others into consideration. But I don't drink during meetings anymore.

But what I like most about the online Zoom meetings is that you can join a meeting from the comfort of your own home and still share and hear other people share and still be able to attend an AA meeting without having to worry about oh I need to shower, what am I going to wear, does my hair look okay, and what shoes should I wear. Not having to worry about those things as much as we did during meetings in person is very relieving and I am so grateful and thankful we have Zoom for us alcoholics in need of AA meetings that we cannot attend in person during these times.

sayingprayers

Thank you for all the kind responses. Quick question though. This is my work computer, will these meetings show up on the computer? My phone does not accommodate this app. I will have to get help from my son to set it up.

mikoss

Yes, you will see the meeting on your computer. You need a camera though to be seen but most monitors and laptops have cameras built in to them anyways. And of course most all cell phones do as well. But yes when you are in a Zoom meeting you will see everybody in the meeting via their camera and you can hear them. Unless they choose to turn off their video or mute their microphone. Usually during a meeting it is good to mute your microphone so there is not too much background noise from everybody.

When you enter a meeting you can see all of the participants, there is also a chat function so you can chat with people, you can also click on the option to raise your hand to speak when you want to share or the way we do it is just type "SHARE" in the chat section when we want to speak, and there are a lot of features during the meeting like turning off your camera or muting your microphone if say you are eating food during an meeting and don't want other people hearing you eat during a meeting.

There are basically different ways to get into an online Zoom meeting. You can sign up for free and download the software on your computer or download the app on your phone. And to get into a meeting you have to enter in a key. For me it is usually a 9 or 10 digit numerical key to get into a meeting. As long as you know the key you can get into the meeting at the scheduled time.

Or in my case in my AA group we get e-mails. And in the regular emails we receive within our group, we have the link to our AA meeting and also the links to other meetings so all we have to really do is click on the link and we are in the meeting. The software downloads automatically for Zoom and we don't have to really sign up for Zoom or get an account. We just click on the link or at least I do and the software downloads within a minute or less and I am in the meeting. But you have to have the link for a particular meeting in order to do that. You cannot type in the link and search it because it won't work, you actually have to have the link in an e-mail or text in the case of a phone and click on it to get into a meeting that way. I find that is the best way to get into a meeting but whatever works is fine.

Or just download the Zoom app on your phone or the Zoom software on your laptop or PC and enter the numeric key to get into a meeting. Either way works.

Hope that helps some. I am new to Zoom and have been doing online meetings for about a week now so I am new to Zoom and still learning but I love it. It is so wonderful we can still have our AA meeting online with Zoom and do it from the comfort of our homes. I love it.

ShilohWon

sayingprayers, I'm Shiloh.
Glad you're here.